Jay Manuel has alleged that his working relationship with Tyra Banks fractured after he told her he wanted to step away from America’s Next Top Model.
Manuel, who joined the series at its launch in 2005, became one of its defining figures.
As creative director, he oversaw and produced the photoshoots, guiding contestants on how to pose, alongside host Banks and fellow judges Nigel Barker and Miss Jay.
In the new Netflix documentary Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, which revisits the show’s culture two decades on, Manuel reflects on reaching breaking point.
The programme, he suggests, had begun to take a personal toll.
“[It] was slowly depleting me and chipping away at my soul,” he said. “So it was time to tell Tyra that I wanted to leave the show.”
Manuel described their dynamic as unconventional, making the conversation all the more difficult.
He admitted he “was afraid of saying the wrong thing” and did not wish to upset her. “I tortured myself over the decision. I didn’t come to it lightly,” he said.
According to Manuel, after the third season the pair had agreed to approach one another directly with any concerns.
He said he honoured that understanding by emailing Banks to express his gratitude while explaining he wanted to pursue other opportunities.
“So I sent her the email, just expressing the utter gratitude for the opportunity,” he recalled. “But also, I was trying to kind of move on in my own life and career, and she didn’t respond.”
Three days later, he said, she replied with just three words: “I am disappointed.”
Manuel claimed that after that exchange, “communication just stopped.”
While he was on holiday, his lawyer informed him he had been asked to return for another season. He agreed, he said, partly out of concern he “would be blacklisted” in the industry if he refused.
He further alleged that when they next saw each other, Banks declined to engage with him beyond the necessities of filming.
“I hadn’t spoken to Tyra. I was extremely nervous,” he said. “We sit down, and I was, ‘Oh Thank God, I’m taking a moment. I can just talk to her.’
“I’m like, ‘Hey, Tyra, like, I just wanted to real quick…’ And that was the first time I really realised there’s a real problem. She wouldn’t speak with me.”
Although she later asked for his views on prospective contestants, he felt the boundaries were clear.
“But it was just clear I was not allowed to speak to her outside of that,” he said, describing the atmosphere as “psychological torture” and adding: “I felt broken.”
Asked in the documentary whether she would address the situation, Banks declined.
“I should call Jay. I don’t wanna do this here. But he’s a special man,” she said.
Manuel remained with the programme for 18 cycles in total, but ahead of season 19 he, Barker and Miss Jay were dropped.
He said they had been assured they would be quoted in a joint statement about their departures in 2012. Instead, reports emerged suggesting they had been fired.
He suggested the contracts were not renewed in an effort to revive ratings, adding: “When I wanted to leave, I wasn’t afforded that. And then I work on the show from cycles 10 to 18. I made so many concessions.”
The Standard has contacted Tyra Banks’s rep for comment.
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model is available to stream now on Netflix
